"Pick of the Week" - What's Yours?

Every week, one item or another in my pull and hold stands out for me above the rest in one way or another. Sometimes it’s a periodical, sometimes a graphic novel, sometimes a collection. Does that happen to you? If so, let’s hear about it here. It can be an item you’ve long anticipated or something you bought on a whim. If it’s something you were really looking forward to but ended up being a big disappointment, let’s hear about that here, too. I’ve been meaning to start this topic for a long time now, but chose today to post about something I’ve been waiting for a long time, long before it was even solicited.

SILVER SURFER EPIC COLLECTION BY STEVE ENGLEHART AND MARSHAL ROGERS

This is a favorite run of mine, but I’ve read it only twice: once as it was released, and I re-read it once after that. It came out as an “ESSENTIAL” a few years ago, but for this I held out for color.

EDIT: Most weeks I make my picks before I have read them, but feel free to choose either the books you anticipate most before you read or enjoy the most after you have read them.

Replies to This Discussion

I read it last night. I plan to post something about it to "What Comic Books Have You Read today?" Monday if not later today. I dodn't see it much like Satellite Sam for a couple of reasons; first, the story spans decades rather than being set exclusively in the '50s; second, it deals with the field of comic books rather than the television inductry; third, it written by Chaykin rather than Matt Fraction. Also, whereas sex does play a role in the story (it is Chaykin, after all), the first issue is neither as overt nor as graphic as his more recent work (i.e., no nudity). Bottom line: I liked it.

I bought it, too. I liked it, but it definitely merits a reread to see if I can keep the characters straight. My feeling is it's going to follow the main three characters and tell their stories, while they intersect with a variety or roman a clef tales from comic book history.

I'm buying this one digitally, which unfortunately means it won't be as easy to flip through to refer to characters in the different eras as it would be in print. On the other hand, whenever I'm reading an issue, all my other issues will be right at hand.

Last year I read the Pulitzer Prize winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which is a roman a clef regarding the early comics industry. I recommend that anyone who hasn't read it seek it out.

If you liked it beyond its comics associations, another book that gave me much the same feeling was Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold, which is set around the same time and does something similar with magicians.

Maybe we should have a Hey Kids Comics thread... I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about.